52A: Former #1 woman pool player Corr: KAREN. Nicknamed "the Irish Invader". Unknown to me, though her face looks familiar. Must have seen on on ESPN before.

58A: Gave in: CAVED. Mine was CEDED.

59A: Israeli weapon: UZI. The "British weapon" is STEN.

60A: Do figures, in a way: SKATE. Figure is defined as "a movement, pattern, or series of movements in skating" in dictionary. Is that how figure skating got its name? I was thinking of numeral figure.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of Dr. Dad and his family. It's taken 7 or 8 years ago. From left to right: Dr. Dad, his wife Kathy, daughter Jennifer who is now 26 years old and living in New Jersey, and daughter Danielle who is now 14 and starting high school this year.

73 comments:

Good morning, C.C. and gang - my favorite Friday puzzle in some time; good clues, and I really liked the theme. Loved 'split end'/'tress fracture'.I did get off to a bad start, putting 'rancid' for 1D, which set me back a bit, but we had the 'URI' Rams not too long ago, so that made 'putrid' apparent. Also initially had 'rest stop' instead of 'rest area', which the perps quickly cleared up. 'Triage' and 'Tet' brought back unpleasant memories.Didn't know Karen Corr; didn't remember 'Veda' was Hindu sacred text. And for some reason, 'end in a tie' bothered me; it just seemed weak to me.

C.C., you're right - Rich Norris has definitely eased up the late-week puzzles. DrDad, great picture - thanks for sharing your family with us.Today is Race Your Mouse Day. Don't ask me.Today's Words of Wisdom: "Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting a bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian." -- Shari BarrCouple interesting quotes:- "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." -- Yogi Berra

- "Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man." -- Erica Jong

Definitely an easier than expected Friday puzzle. A fun puzzle, and once I figured out the theme with TRIKE ZONE I was able to go back and fill in things pretty quickly. I will admit I was bit disappointed that theme wasn't revealed in a specific clue/answer somewhere (you know, one of those "___, or a clue to this puzzle's theme" type clues).

I initially put FTS for 1A, thinking it would be the abbreviation for "free throws". As a result, I was trying to get some variation of fetid or foetid to fit for 1D. I figured out my error pretty quickly, though, and that was really the only sticking point for me.

Good evening from India,Thanks to all for welcoming me back to the blog after a prolonged absence.Was done in by all the names in today's CW and had to do a lot of googling to complete it.Never seen LO MEIN noodles on the menu at the Chinese restaurants here

Morning, All. A very challenging Friday puzzle, but doable. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do this on the first pass. I had a lot of false starts, though. I wanted Rancid for PUTRID, and though of Dingo instead of HYENA. (Dingo would have gone so well with JOEYS, 38A.) Once I got TAR WITNESS, everything else fell into place.

A second URI reference this week. My sister would be happy if she did crosswords.

Tomorrow marks the 4th anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina hit land in the Gulf Coast. Although it will take years for the area to return to its pre-Katrina condition, progress has been made and we are settled into a “new” normal.

August 28 Birthdays:1749 ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d. 1832)

1828 ~ Leo Tolstoy, (d. 1910), Russian writer. War and Peace and Anna Karenina. I never saw the attraction of these novels. Maybe they were better in the original Russian.

1915 ~ Tasha Tutor (d. 2008), American writer and illustrator of children’s books. I loved her drawings. She lived in Marlboro, Vermont (clue from earlier this week).

1940 ~ William “Billy” Cohen , Senator from Maine and Secretary of Defense under Clinton. He used to visit my high school years ago when he was beginning his career in public service.

1943 ~ “Sweet Lou” Piniella, Baseball player

1957 ~ Daniel Stern, Actor. Remember the movie Diner?

1986 ~ Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier who was abducted by a Palestinian militants in June 2006. He is still believed to be alive. The city of New Orleans made Shalit an honorary citizen earlier this year, on June 25, the third anniversary of his capture.

QOD: Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. ~ Truman Capote.

A fun Friday, with a nice theme and clues, though TICK SHIFT was an unpleasant reminder of the number of TICKS in the woods in Tennessee, and my first TICK bite (4 wheeling has its downside). TRIKE ZONE and TAR WITNESS were especially witty, I thought. The rest was easier than a Friday.

Hahtool, to say Lou Piniella was a baseball player, ignores his career as the 14th winningest manger in baseball history, with the most entertaining TIRADE AGAINST UMPIRES .

Also, Daniel Stern was Joe Pesci’s partner in crime in HOME ALONE as well as the narrator for Wonder Years .

Lemonade: For the past 20 + years, I have lived in a state with absolutely no baseball. I only remember Lou when he played with the Yankees. I was a avid Red Sox fan, so there was an intense rivalry. His career as a manager came after I lost track of the game.

I wanted IN HOME for IN TOWN and my first thout for a British museum was not TATE but Madame TUSSAUDS, so I couldn't figure out the theme. I was googling on a friend's computer (which had an old version of Internet Explorer) when I decided to try checking the online version of the puzzle and that cleared things up because I was able to use the solve word option: I filled in the theme fills and everything else was fairly easy, except for PALO alto and MARIN county, which were probably gimmes for people living in California.

but, this was a fun puzzle for Friday, a day I usually struggle. I never really stopped, but had to skip around a lot. I finally got the theme with stress fracture, and applying that gave the key to other areas. I also started with "rancid", definitely eased up, but in my strike zone. I'll be doing the Saturday puzzle at the farmers market, since I have to leave here at 7 AM.

I though we had flashed back to Wednesday doing this one. I never did get the theme and perps filled in those clues. Definitely an easier Friday.

Made a stir fry last night with garden veggies. Summer squash, beans, green peppers and tomatoes. Garlic, the wife's basil and oregano, onion, and black olives piled onto a bed of linguine topped with some feta cheese. The fresh tomatoes made it! Few ingredient changes, frying in sesame oil instead of olive oil and you could put it on Lomein.

I wasn't even planning on doing the puzzle this am as I have a lot to do. Then the rains came, so I didn't want to run outside until they stopped. I figured I would try it and was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty level. Certainly seems a little eased up to me.

Fun puzzle with the theme. I also looked for the clue revealing the theme. CC, many of my first answers misses were the same as yours. Fabio is not my type either.

Favorite clues were Site of Bedlam and Do figures in a way.

Nice family photo Dr. Dad. I would love to see the now photo also, kind of a before and after. Quite a spread on those children's ages.

Boys are in school for the first day today. Quiet at home, but I head to their school to volunteer all day. What fun. I am excited.

I'm usually reading the blog at 10:00 P.M. or later so this is unusual for me. I haven't even seen the puzzle yet but I wanted to write when it would be read.

I'm enjoying the pictures of all the bloggers. A really lovely looking group we have.

Andrea, Where and at what timewill we be able to find you? You said you're in charge of the Expo. Where will it be set up? If I can work it out, I'd like to meet you. Sundays are full days but maybe I can juggle my schedule so I can go down town or to the Alliant Center or where ever. God bless you in this worthy cause.

This is my weekend for a worthy cause. The Touched Twice Clinic is Saturday and again I will be keeping the doctors, nurses, and other volunteers supplied with coffee or cold drinks. I hope it does not rain. We've moved a lot of activities (the lunch, food pantry, etc. outside because there are so many people.) We've had a tremendous response to the drive for school supplies & book give away.

Lindsay Ashford is a specific kind of pedophile who wishes to be given the right to romantically engage in relationships with children--little girls (specifically, girls 7 through 11). Oh, yes, indeedy, Lindsay is asking for your little girl's hand in marriage? No, romance?

His web site details what he claims is the difference between a pedophile and a child molester (among other things). Some concerned parents believe the fact that Ashford wants parents and law makers to allow him to be openly and sexually involved in relationships with children is cause for alarm and that he should be considered a posing threat (outright brazenness); although, he might disagree. As disturbing as Ashford's web site is, there are similar sites giving other pedophiles a "how to manual for pedophiles/child molesters."

Good Morning!Definitely a toned down Friday puzzle. Some of the clues were great. But frankly Fracture in the clue and the answer at the same spot put me off. As others mentioned, PALO and MARIN were gimmes. So was ALONZO as I followed the Miami Heat passionately for a couple of years.

CC, I've never seen LoMein in a chinese menu. Would love to try it but too lazy to make it myself :)

Good morning CC: I always plan to skip TH-SUN but my curiosity/pride won`t let me...I was able to complete maybe 1/3 before coming here. Once I see one of your (how DO you do that?) answers, I fill in anything that I can. Between you and me...I "git `er done." I used to be so frustrated having to wait until the next day...until I found XWC. Thanks again (and again and again and again...)

Was expecting company for lunch (one of whom ordered lemon ice box pie calling for frozen lemonade concentrate) but they cancelled due to a schedule conflict, so I sampled (big time!) the pie myself last evening. I`ve noticed that anything with citrus acid (powdered drink mixes also) make my achy bones worse. I had to quit taking vit. C tablets because of it. Has anyone else noticed that?Mom always loads us up with citrus fruit in the spring when we come home, I juice it and then can`t drink it without "paying" for it. I will, somehow suffer through it until the pie is all gone :)

Lemonade714: Glad your birthday was enjoyable. Has any one ever told you that you resemble (in your photos) a character in a by-gone sitcom? If they have and you`ll share it here, I`ll tell you who your photos remind me of. Deal? (To borrow Lois` phrase, "It`s all good.")

Great, very doable puzzle. A no-googler for me, one I was able to complete offline while eating a bowl of cereal. I was able to work my way through it from top to bottom with very little jumping about. Putrid (like Dennis, I had first entered rancid) and lo-mein took some head scratching, but I was able to nail them via some help from the perps. I also had "aye witness" for a bit, thinking the clue a bit weak, but I quickly realized the error of my ways as I came to grips with the general s-less theme. Clever, fun wordplay today.

CAST crossing FRACTURE is a nice weave. Here is the #1 All-Time master of tapestry.

I made it through today, but it was slow going. I've been sluggish and struggling all week, and that might have something to do with it. Slept in until 9:30 this morning?!?

My gimmes were OWENS, IGOR, TRIAGE, and JOEYS. You need a few of those to get some traction in a grid with lots of long fills.

Meanwhile, back in the real world -

Well, the jury finally got selected, and the LW is not on it. This case involves a homicide committed in the act of a burglary, and has already gone through the entire legal process once, ending in a mistrial. I'm guessing that is what made the jury selection process so arduous.

My meeting with the Township Supervisor went exceedingly well yesterday.

Nate has his annual cardiac appointment today, and is getting an echo cardiogram, as well. After that, his parents, KAREN and JOEY (you can't make this stuff up) are taking us all up to Frankenmuth* to shop at Bronners and have a nice dinner.

So - a fine finish to a rather stressful week._________________* Spell check suggested FRANKENSTEIN. (snicker)

Dot and Andrea,Let's make it a date on Sept. 27th. We do need to know times and a more detailed location though. It's around Warner Park, going by the map in a State Journal earlier this week. If I can drive an hour and a half to get there, I'm sure we can do it!

Dr. Dad, Great looking family portrait. I noticed the photographer's log with 99 in the corner, so does that mean it's 10 years old?

Dennis,I like the QOD today.

As to the puzzle, about halfway through, I was about to give up, and then the theme struck home, and I was off. Although I stared at TATESE---T for a very long time, until I looked up ALIF which helped with the perps leading down to SECRET. I also wanted STRESS DISTRESS in the worst way for a while. I did get WACKO wrong for SICKO--neither are terms in my vocab. And RABIO for FABIO--another unknown name, and I've no idea about STRIKE ZONEs or why 2 wheelers wouldn't be allowed there. I had BEN for KEN so I didn't care--all the spaces were filled and it is Friday!

This was a much easier c/w for a Friday, but I could not finish the NW corner--dead in the water with tick shift. From Fabio down it flew, although Bob filled in Alonzo.

Years ago I read many cheesy romance novels with Fabio on the cover..not my type either.ewwww!

I laughed at tress fracture and trike zone (so clever!) and even enjoyed the longer words tomahawk and ebenezer.I paused for the n in lomein (new to me).

CC, JT's "Lonesome Road" was lovely. Has anyone ever driven HW 50 across Nevada? No one and nothing to see for beaucoup miles.

Dennis, I had that Y. Berra quote posted in my classroom. Don't know if the kids liked it as much as I did.Actually, I know they didn't.LOL

Dr Dad, great family photo. Have you seen that e-mail showing Olan Mills photos? In college there must have been a door-to-door salesman for that company. I went in with my dog to have my picture taken. Sooooo funny!!gotta run...Truman time....

Good Morning All, I shouldn't have had too many problems with this puzzle. It did take me quite a long time though. I didn't use Cruciverb last night and my brain was particularly fuzzy this morning.

I was bothered by "Clown accessory" STILT. I know it is possible, but I've never seen a clown on one stilt. It is always a pair of STILTS.

For some reason, I kept reading (and rereading) the clue for 12D as "Like the road in a classic ballet". I finally did get LONESOME, but I was still scratching my head until I checked in here.

"Do figures in a way" for SKATE is kind of misleading. Although it is still called "Figure skating", figures have little to do with it anymore. "Compulsory figures", which is the name given to carving patterns based on the figure eight was eliminated from ice skating competition in 1990. The closer the skater could come to carving and retracing a perfect pattern in the ice, the higher his/her score would be. I always liked "doing figures".

I do have a good reason for being fuzzy headed this morning. I woke up with a raspy throat and watery eyes. Nope, not a cold, but this. We have another fire in the Yosemite area. It is a prescribed fire that got out of control. It isn't too big (yet) and we have our fingers crossed it will be contained soon. We aren't in any danger, but the air quality is horrible.

Good afternoon everyone.I must be on another planet, but I do not like puzzles where a letter is left off and we're supposed to figure it out. I never do. Got some of the answers, but still didn't understand. I'm glad for you who can do it and enjoy it.

Nice picture, Dr. Dad. Good looking family even though we don't know how it looks now. I'll bet even better.

I thought about the obvious choices - filling in the "L" of GAIL, or adding a letter square in front of OTO. But neither of these give you symmetry in one step, since the fills are no longer legitimate, and there would have to be a major tear-up.

So, in desperation, I took the puzzle to the bathroom and held it up to the mirror at a 45 degree angle. Now, the mirror and it's reflection have perfect bilateral symmetry along an axis formed by the paper against the glass.

Jazzbumpa- Your first choices are correct. Either one will do. A black square at the L of GAIL, or remove the black square at the front of OTO. Yes, you would have to redo the fill but that's beside the point. All we're trying to do is make the grid symmetrical.

Upon further reflection, I like the mirror solution. I'm fairly certain Alice would agree.

Cassandra - would that make our resident Appolonian quasi-troll a "source of endless pain and frustration?"

I keep getting Chinese spam in the comments of my blog. Odd thing is, they don't occur on current posts. Just this morning I got one on a post from last Feb.

They seem to be mostly some sort of porn, though some of the softer ones might be for mail order brides - it's hard to tell. One today was quite bland in the images, but totally lost on me, since I don't read Chinese.

I delete them as soon as I find them. They're more annoying conceptually than as a real practical nuisance. What the hell is the point?

This may be an easier Friday puzzle for most of you, but to me it was Friday as usual. Misery loves company, so I'm joining anyone that needed extra help. Can I get credit for half-done?Feel better now Linda?Great picture Dr. Dad. You're a handsome dude and the ladies are beautiful.

windhover, Just read your post of 8/25. I never would have believed you are so full of hate and bitterness. You seemed more level-headed. But I guess one can't tell anything about another on the internet.

I am reminded of this poem. It was written by Stephen Maria Crane in 1895. Crane is best known for his Civil War novel, "The Red Badge of Courage", but he also wrote many poems and short stories. Most of his writing is available at gutenberg.org.

Truth

"Truth," said a traveller, "Is a rock, a mighty fortress; Often have I been to it, Even to its highest tower, From whence the world looks black."

"Truth," said a traveller, "Is a breath, a wind, A shadow, a phantom; Long have I pursued it, But never have I touched The hem of its garment." And I believed the second traveller;

For truth was to me A breath, a wind, A shadow, a phantom, And never had I touched The hem of its garment.

windhover et.al., our friend the JACCL, has one objective: to disrupt the blog. Don't let him. Let the little boy say whatever he pleases, and smile as you read between the lines his frustration. Besides, the posts will disappear quickly enough. It's actually getting pretty amusing.

For some reason the posting muse has not been appealing to me in the past few days, but I have the opportunity to do so now, and she does seem to be whispering in my ear.

I'm at the library doing one of my twice weekly stints in the job-search computer lab, and Carol just stopped by to say "Hi." Would never have known her without this blog. Thanks, C.C. for your wonderful community.

Too many pictures to comment about! The B gals are gorgeous! Dr. Dad's family is very nice. Windhover and Irish and the backyard and on and on. I know I've missed some, and my apologies to those I missed.

Jazz, that was a masterful poem parody of Tiger, Tiger. Glad your wife missed that jury. That could have added a lot of stress in your life. I realize that jury duty is necessary, and someone must serve on the nasty cases, but it's good to get a pass at times.

If you have a chance, do solve Dan G's 30K puzzle from yesterday's link in his interview. It is quite a feat!!

@lois, I understand that school has started already for you. Good luck in the forthcoming year!

Yes, I enjoyed the 100 MPH goat story. Laughed out loud a number of times!

Tonight the Irish and I are attending a meeting of the Chicken Bristle, Kentucky, Film Society, which consists of a bunch of people sitting around outdoors drinking and watching a movie projected on the side of a white barn. I'm told that tonight we will be seeing the Wizard of Oz accompanies by the album score of Dark Side of the Moon. I'm sure Syd will be there. #5 - see you tomorrow.

Sallie: As a general rule, I do not like puzzles that leave letters off either, but I did enjoy this one. Maybe because I caught on rather quickly to the theme. (And I am not just saying that because I don't want to feel the wrath of the constructor.)

Actually, my theory is that this blog is making us all better puzzlers, so therefore the Friday puzzles just seem easier!

GAL / PAL ~ isn't that a Madonna thing? It sounds like something that she would say or be or something.

Windhover, It sounds like a mighty fine way to pass a summer evening. I hope active kibitzing along with the movie dialog will be encouraged. "What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!" (Bert Lahr had all the best lines.)

Our Friday evening will consist of GAH playing poker at a friend's house. The ladies will not be ignored however. We will be gathering at our home to enjoy a couple of bottles of wine and the sing-along version of Mamma Mia. Our guilty pleasure will wind up with some spectacular cheese cake brought by one of my guests. I love those "I'll bring something", parties. All I have to do is furnish the place.

Hahtool, yes, that's the ticket. I also like to believe (hope..hope) that I have become a better puzzler with experience and the help of this blog.

Back after a busy day, and glanced at the strike zone thing and there was TRIKE and my d'uh moment. Who was it a while back who said Luxor means annoying person? Seems he chose that name intending to live up/down to it.I still haven't had time to read the last interview, so off to do that now.

Well, another interesting day and I had really hoped I was getting MUCH better at Friday puzzles...Really liked the theme and got it right off with TICKSHIFT and did the aha! No S's and off I went. PTS did hang me up as I too wanted rancid...really didn't know IRENE or if I have seen it, it just hasn't stuck...kudos to you C.C.! :o)

Nothing else was really a stumper(didn't know VEDA) and I was just writing as fast as I could read...what slows me down is making sure I putting the answer in the correct spaces.

Having grown up in the bay area and growing up in PALO ALTO, that was a gimme as was MARIN. CA, so sorry for the fires in your area, after a whole summer of ash in the air last year I can understand. The weather "reporters", and I use that term loosely, said it would be 86 here today with high clouds and higher humidity due to the remnants of a tropical storm that is passing through...well, it is about 5pm and 100 degress outside and the only thing they even came close to was the humidity part...:oP Seems like the more fancy equipment they get the further from accuracy they go...all this summer they have averaged at about 8-12 degress off on the low side...Meh

Dennis...especially loved the Shari Barr and Yogi Berra quotes...some of his comments are oddly appropriate, reminds me of a bumper sticker my friend had that said "weather is here, wish you were beautiful".

DrDad...what a lovely family...it would definitely be fun to see a more recent photo now.

Dennis@ 3:44...maybe this started with your last birthday???? We think you are sensible even though you deny it...:o)

Puzzle was intereting, today. Several times I got tumped, so I topped and retarted.

Multiple wrong guesses, a few lucky ones, and TADA, without advance warning, the grid came together.

Ah, if only life were like that. If things just fell into place.....

They don't, too often, so we make do as best we can. My best tonight is spending time outside, keeping my eye on the barbeque, shaking up salad dressing, and watching my friends' kids sing Miley Cyrus [whoever that is] and lip synch to Sinatra. Whatever they lack in vocals they more than make up for with enthusiasm. Food, music friends, & laughter, Other than rabid mosquito invasions, kinda perfect.

I wasn't going to say anything because it's C.C.'s language and she can answer herself but she's probably in bed now and can't. (She gets up early to do the puzzles.)

Mandarin Chinese has five tones, [1] a high pitched one, [2] a rising one (sounds like you're asking a question), [3] a falling and riging one, [4] a falling one and [5] a neutral one. Xian1 has eleven meanings, including "first" and "fresh", xian2 has nineteen meanings including "(musical) cord", xian3 has seventeen meanings including "dangerous", xian4 has seventeen meanings including "now", "line", "wire" and "boundary". Xi'an, meanwhile, is two syllables, both in the first tone, and literally means "western peace".

I've driven it at least twice, and found it quite interesting! Very different from the pine forests in California, as we approached Nevada! But one must not impose one's own judgment; rather look at the place and find what is interesting and beautiful about it.

The terrain was interesting -- rolling hills, about 20 to 30 miles apart, oriented mostly north/south. I wondered what a geologist could tell me about those formations got that shape.

Many of the plants were interesting to see. Thay are adapted to live in that hot and dry environment, as are what little animal life one can see -- most of it comes out at night.

I did the puzzle last night, but didn’t have time to comment before work today. I close the library three days a week, and open it on the fourth day. That back to back, late Thursday/early Friday usually takes me a few hours to recover. Looks like all the things I would have said have already posted. Go team!

Thanks to all of you for your generous compliments on the Bee family. It is rare for us all to be together, so that was a special time.

CC, The coconut oil has a very subtle fragrance, which is why you can slather it all over your body, and not worry about overwhelming the people around you. And, as Al said, it solidifies at 76 degrees, so if the storage place is just a bit on the warm side, (like a sunny window) it will melt a little, but no worries. Shelf life is about 6 months. If you see you won’t be using it in that length of time, put it in the fridge, where it will last indefinitely.

I tried Jeannie’s recipe for creamed corn tonight. It’s wonderful, even though I forgot to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on it. Fortunately, I have some leftovers.

I have been MIA as Brady and I take our yearly camping/fishing trip right before school starts. We had good luck at fishing and had some bad luck with the weather. As Lois would say, "It was all good" as we had some really good Mom/Son time and he asked a lot of questions that I knew he wanted to ask. So, we finally did have the "sex talk" and he digested it well. He was a little freaked out about the period thing. I am not sure why as he won't have one. Ha.

Just a comment on all the great pictures here...C.C. it's a wonderful addition that is helpful for putting a face to a name.

Sorry if this offends you folks as I haven't done a crossword in days, but felt a need to reconnect.

Tarrajo: It's wonderful that you have such a good connection with your son...you are obviously a natural mother. He is a very lucky little 'guy'. I love hearing about all you do together. He will grow up to be a fine man because of you, your folks and all the fun times he shares in. The experiences he is having now are the ones that will last forever.

Tarrjo...sounds like a wonderful and special time. It seems to me that you are doing everything just right...keep up the good work, and I don't think doing the puzzle is a requirement for posting...we really like to know what is going on peoples lives...that's we are a special community of fascinating people...give yourself a pat on the back and some good mom points( amd a few gold stars) :o)

Thanks for your kind thoughts and comments. It was one of the most memorable times we had together. I thought the bonding process was kind of over but obviously not. He still lets me hug him, and he lets ME do the same.

On another note, I am still trying to "shop till I drop" to find the best deals for that long list I need to fill. I find it ridiculous.

I can't remember who on this blog that had a teacher in the metro area and would be curious to find out what their list was.

JD, I just sent you the rest of the zucchini...hope you find a home for it.

Tarrajo, that you will spend time in a tent and a canoe is beyond my comprehension. I might break a nail. I am buried at work with my food show prepraration and BK promotions and schools opening. I can't blog regularly like I would like to at this time. You are a fantastic MOM, and C.C. when are we gonna see a blown up pic of Tarrajo?

Good evening CC et al., have had some trojan issues...uh, on the computer...so had to call the doctor in. Richard, the professional bachelor next door, fixed everything for a small favor....uh, that would be dinner. So, now I have to catch up.

Great pictures Drdad and B ladies. Beautiful families and so much fun to 'see'.

Lemonade: Happy Belated birthday. I wish you many many more...with us!

CA: great poem...as usual. Really enjoy what you bring us.

Carol: LMAO. You have a gift! Hilarious!

Windhover 4:38: LMAO again! I love your optimism!

Crockett: thank you so much for the good wishes in school. May need it this year as we have a new principal. I have just learned that an exorcism has been approved by Pope B XVI for her and that Fr.Goodfellow is just waiting for the arrival of the Holy Water and the EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) which may be a little over the top for this woman...ok a lot over the top...may only need excessively used motor oil for this particular case. May God help us every one. And this on the tails of no raise and no cost of living increase. Driving the tram at Busch Gardens is looking more and moreappealing. Actually, I think volunteering for boil implants is going to be my choice of fun and excitement after this year. And I haven't even met the little darlins yet. Hell, with that thought, I think I'll also volunteer to get my fingernails ripped off one at a time for even more fun and excitement next June. This is promising to be one for the record books already.

Dennis: Love that Shari Barr quote and I have just met that bull! It's my principal w/huge oversized brass cajones and a mind like a closed steel trap...nothing gets in!

Terrajo: you are a wonderful mother. I love hearing about you and Brady. He's a very, very lucky little fellow to have such a good mom. What kind of fish did y'all catch?

Lois, we (he) caught our limit of walley's and some sunny's and crappy's to beat. Yes I am a proud parent of a good kid. I damn near bust out my "non bust" just thinking about him. Love is a good thing. I can't even explain it.

Tarrajo, If you are looking for local school supply lists different from your school, just google a district nearby. Many of them are posted at local stores, or just online. As an example, I googled Wayzata Public Schools supply list, and up came Kimberly Lane school with a pdf that you could access. It would give you a comparison. Good luck. They all look pretty long though.